Apparatus for erecting aerial cables.



No. 840,009. PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

R. S. PEIRCB.

APPARATUS FOR EREGTING AERIAL GABLES.

APPLIOATIDN FILED T11R27, 1905.

? Peoircg,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. RALPH s. PnIRcE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

- APPARATUS FOR ERECTING AERIAL CABLES.

I No. 840,008.

Specification of Letters .Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1907.

Application filed February 27, 1905. Serial No. 247,491-

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known. that I, RALPH S. PEIROE, a citizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and

State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Im rovement in A paratus for Erecting Aeria Cables, of whic the following is a specification.

My invention pertains to an improved method and apparatus for the erection of lead-covered aerial cables.

It is customary in erecting cables to first string the messenger-Wire or supportingstrand along the line of poles or other su orts that is to bear the length of the cab e to be erected and then by means of a running rope previously strung parallel with the messenger-wire to pull the cable up and alon the messenger-wire, su porting it by suita le hangers placed on t e cable as it unrolls from the reel. Under some methods the cable-hangers are hooked over the messenger-wire as it passes from the reel, and under others some of the hangers are not attached to the messenger-wire until after the cable is pulled over the entire length of the run. In the latter event some form of roller is usually applied to the pole just beneath the messenger-wire support and the cable passes over this roller during the process of drawing it into position, a man being stationed at each pole to assist the few hooks over the messenger-wire support as they pass until the last span is about to be pulled, when a signal is given, after which all men attach all hooks to the messenger-wire as the various portions of the cable are then entering their respective spans.

Where all of the cable-hangers are applied to the messenger-wire during the drawing of the cable into position, it is customary either to provide a special 1nessenger-wire support over which the hooks of the hangers may slide freely during the drawing of the cable or to use an ordinary form of messenger- Wire sup ort and to station a man at each pole to li t the hooks over the messenger-wire support as they pass. Devices have been produced with a view to removing the necessity for a man at each pole; but such devices have been limited to use in the erection of cable with a special type of hanger or to the erection of cable with a hanger conforming to some limiting detail in design enforced b the man-displacing device.

It is t e object of my invention to make possiblethe erection of aerial cables using any type of hanger desired without the necessity of employing men upon the poles during the drawing of the cable, and, further, to insure against the possible falling of the cable during the processoferection by the accidental slipping of the messenger-wire from its temporary point of support, or of the hook from the messenger-wire, which events sometimes occur in present practice, considerable length of cable to drop to the ground. I accomplish this object by the use of a device which is shown in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the device as applied to the pole ready for use. Fig. 2 is a side view of the pole with one form of messengerwire support in common use at the time of my invention. Fig. 3 is a side view in section of the device embodying my invention. Fig. 4 is a side view, partly in section, of a pole top with my device in place ready for use. Fig. 5 isa front View of my device, partly in section. Fig. 6 is a front view, partly in section, of a modified form.

In the drawings the numeral 1 signifies an ordinary telephone or telegraph pole to be used in supporting a section of aerial cable. To this pole is secured by lag-screw 2 a messenger-wire support 3, which consists in the case shown of a cast-iron block 3 and a wrought-iron clamping-plate 3", which serve to hold the messenger-wire in place in the block 3 under pressure of the bolt 2, which clamps the whole structure firmly together.

My invention may beapplied to any style or modification of messenger-wire supports, these supports forming no portion of my invention.

The device which i use to facilitate the erecting'of the cable may be called a cableshoe or cable-runway and is referred to on the drawings by the numeral 4. It consists in its preferred form of a plate of sheetsteel curved in such a manner that in its ver tical and longitudinal cross-section it presents the form of an open hook, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. The shank or portion of this hook by which it is secured to the pole is curved to conform with the circumference of the pole, so that when applied to the pole there will be a considerable amount of bearing-surface between it and the surface of the pole. The hook portion of the device is curved, as shown in Fig. 5 so as to allow the cable and messenger-wire to lie freely within allowing a a shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The lateral ed es of this ortion of the device are curved ownwar y, so that as the cable is being drawn along, while supported within the hook, it or the hangers on it will not be caught by the edges. For thisreason also the supportingsurface of the hook is made very smooth and is; olished. 1

I n the shank of the hook there is a hole 4 of general rectangular shape which has at its upper side an extension 4" of about the diameter to enable it to properly conform to the size of the la -bolt 2. The hole .4 is of such size as to a low the messenger Wire sup ort 3 to pass through it as a whole. If whi the messenger-wire support 3 is' fastened to the pole, but before the bolt 2 has been driven entirely home,the cable shoe or runway be sli ped over the messenger-wire support 3 unti the shank ofthe hook assumes a' position behind it, the shoe or runway may be. ressed down, so that the extension 4 of -t e hole 4 engages the lag-bolt. After this the lag-bolt may be tightened up and the whole device clamped in'place securely, assuming the position most clearly shown in Fig. 4. In putting my invention into practice one of these devices is clamped onto each power.

of the oles in the run over which the cable is to be rawn. The messenger-wire 5 is merely laid in the hook portion of the shoe, being firmly anchored at each end. The cable-reel is then brought to. a point near one end of the messenger-wire, and one end of the cable having been secured to a running rope previouslylaid in the hook portions of the shoes beside the messenger-wire the cable ispulled along over-the run by'means of any available As the cable is'unreeled hangers are applied to it at frequent intervals, these being clamped over both the cable and the messenger-wire.

In the drawings, at 7 in'Fig. 4, is shown an improved marline hanger devised by me covered by my patent application, Serial No. 247,489, filed February 27 1905, in which a permanently-closed loo embraces both cable and messenger-wire. his form'of hanger is shown as a preferred form of hanger; but it is not essential to the prehent invention that thisform of hanger be used..

The cable that is beingl erected is shown at 6 inthe drawings, and t e hangers at 7. As

the cable and hangers progress along the messenger-wire the hangers slide over the messenger-wire being pulled along by the '"cable. At each pole the curved portion of my shoe or runway serves to raise'the cable 6 on a level with the messenger-wire 5, as best shown in Fig. 4, the curved surface of-the shoe prevent ng the ha ers from catching or from meeting with un ue friction. Each hanger as it passes the supporting device forces the messenger-wire 5 up to a slight length 'it may be supported temporarily at eac pole by a suitab e lashing of rope to the upper portion of the pole and the shoe or runway removed, after which the messengerwire is secured in its proper place on the pervmanent messenger-wire support 3, the temporary "lashing then being removed It is possible, however, by providing aslot in the side of the shank of the hook to remove the hook without resorting to the temporary lashin the slot serving to ermit the withdrawa of the hook from t e lag-bolt 2 by lifting it slightly and moving it sidevvise, so that the slot 8'permits its passa e from the lag-bolt, messenger-wire, and cab e after the messenger-wire with its attached cable has been laced in position in the clamp 3. A hook aving a slot 8 for this pur ose is shown in Fig). 6. After this is done t h may e tightened in the usual manner and the cable left permanently-supfported.

' I do not wish to limit myse in all respects to the exact construction here shown and described. It is ob'vious'that for other forms of standard messenger wire clamps than. the

one here shown the shape of the opening in the shank of the shoe or runway ht in some cases be modified to conform Let c shape'of the messenger-wire clam 'Iprefer to provide a ainst undue frictlon between the cable an the shoe orrunway by merely curving and polishin the surface over which the cable slides; int any other wellknown friction-reduc' means might be employed. Obviously, a so, other changes-might'be made in the form of the shoe or runway or in the material from which it is made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is

1. In a device for supporting aerialcables during the process of erection,'a plate having a curved surface for engagingthe supportingpole, said plate having an opening y'which 1t ma be placed upon the'pole over'and surroun a messenger-wire support and having a recess in the upper edge of said opening of such dimension as to receive the shank of the lag-screw sustaining the messenger-Wire support'and adapted to e retained upon=the messenger-wire support, a hook portion inte .gral with said plate upon which they cable may rest, and friction-reducing means associated with said hook portion of said plate over which the cable may be drawn without abrasion, substantially as described.

2. In a device for supporting aerial'cables e lag-bolt 2 during the process of erection, a plate having a member curved to embrace the supportingpole, a hole in said member for passing over a messenger-wire clamp supported on said pole, a slot extending from said hole for embracing a bolt, securing said messenger-Wire clamp to said pole, and a curved hook member having a smooth surface through which said cable may be drawn without abrasion, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a pole for supportin electrical wires, a messenger-clamp, a boIt for securing said clamp to said pole, a cable-runway for temporarily supporting a cable, a perforated shank for said runway,- curved to conform to the surface of said pole, and adapted to be held in place by said messenger-wire clamp, and a curved hook member for said runway having a smooth surface through which said cable may be drawn without abrasion, substantially as described.

4. In a device for supporting aerial cables during the process of erection, a plate having a curved portion for engagin directly the supporting-pole, a hole in said curved portion for passing over the shank of a bolt projecting from said pole, and a curved hook member havin a smooth surface through which said ca le may be drawn without abrasion, substantially as described.

Signed by me at Chicago, county of Cook,

State of Illinois, in the presence of two Wit-' IIGSSQS.

RALPH S. PEIRCE.

Witnesses CHARLES I. COBB, J. M. HUMISTON. 

